Take-up mechanism for knitting machines



e W,W36. P. G.sTRoUD ,04

.TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MAcHfiE's Filed NOV. 28, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNVENTOR."

June 16, 1936. P. e. STROUD TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES 'INVENTO ATTORNEY.

Patented June 16, 1936 UNITED STATES TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR 'KNITTING MACHINES PaulG. Stroud, Belmont, N. H., assignor to Belmont, Hosiery Company, Belmont, N. H., a corv notation of New Hampshire Application November 28, 1933, Serial No. 700,118 9 Claims, (01. 66-149) In knitting full-fashioned hosiery, the fiat machines onwhich the leg and foot are knit are arranged to produce a loose course, or so-called looper course, just before they complete their operationsonan individual stocking. In such a looper course the stitches are longer than in the main body of'the fabric. The purposeof'this course is both to. designate to the operator the course in whichthe looping operation should be performed -and also to facilitate the placing of the stitches or loops of this course on the points of the looper or machine which performs the looping operation. 'The'fact that the stitches in this course are longerrthan those of adjacent courses, while the sinkers and needles make-precisely the same relative movements in knitting this coursethat they do in knitting any other course, frequently results in producing a loose course in which the stitches are irregular, missed, or not completed; In other words, the needles often fail to shed their stitches so that those in the loose course frequently are tied "in to those in the next succeeding course. The purpose of the loose course thus is-largely lost.

The present inventionis especially concerned with this condition andit aims to improve knitting machines with' a view to obviating the difficulty just described. It is also anobject, of the invention to devise a'mechanism for ensuring the formation of a clean loose course which can be quickly and economically installed on existing machines.

The nature of the invention will be readily understoodfrom the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended. claims."

In, the drawings,

- Figure 1 isa skeleton, perspective view of those parts of a' flat hosiery knitting machine with which the present invention is more especially concerned; I Fig. 21s a perspective view of a portion of the fabric, indicating certain of the points in the stocking at which the loose courses are made;

Fig. 3 is a transverse, vertical, sectionalview of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4-is a front elevation of some'of the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 3, a row of needles mounted in the usual manner is indicated at 2, and, a Web of fabric knit by these needles is illustrated at F, this web being wound up on the usual takeup roll or reel 3. The shaft 4, on which this 55 roll is mounted, is given its normal takeupmovementby means of a weighted band 5, one end of which is wound around a drum secured fast on the takeup shaft 4, while its opposite end has an actuating weight 6 secured to it. This mechanism constantly maintains a tension on the fabric F and winds up this fabric as fast as it is delivered by the. knitting instrumentalities, the direction of rotation being clockwise, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3.

As is well understood by those skilled in this art, a machine for knitting full-fashioned hosiery includes a series of banks or rows of needles, like those indicated at 2, all arranged to knit simultaneously a series of independent stocking webs or fabrics, and these webs are all wound on the takeup roll 3. The particular mechanism shown is like that of the well' knownWildman machine and is typical of full-fashioned knitting frames.

The common commercial machines of this type are all, so far as I have been able to learn, open to the objection above described,-that they do not produce'a clean looper course; While this difiiculty could be obviated by providing automatic mechanism for increasing the relative movement of the needles and 'sinkers during the knitting of the loose course, I have found that the simplest way of accomplishing the same ultimate result iswby giving the Work an additional takeup movement as the stitches of the loose course are'knocked over. r

The particular mechanism shown in the drawings for performing this function comprises a gear 1 secured fast on the takeup shaft 4, and a'lever 8 mounted fast on a rock shaft Ill and having a toothed end portion I2 arranged to engage the teeth of the gear 1 and thus to givev this gear an additional takeup movement. Normally the toothed end I2 of the lever is held out of contact with the gear I by means of a coiled spring l3 which is connected with an arm I4 that depends from, but is secured fast to, the rock shaft [0. Another arm I5, also secured fast on the shaft II], has a stop screw l6 threaded through it and arranged to engage a stationary lug l1 projecting laterally from a brace l8 which forms part of the frame work of the machine. Consequently, the adjustment of this stop screw determines the normal or idle position of the lever 8. Mounted on the lower end of the arm M is a roll 20 which is arranged to be engaged at times by a cam 2|, secured adjustably to one face of a rotary cam 22, mounted on and revolving with the main cam shaft 23 of the machine. No attempt has here been made to show the exact shape of the cam 22; It will be clear from an inspection of Fig. 3, however, that when the cam 2| strikes the roll it will swing the lever B in a counter-clockwise direction and thus will give a momentary takeup movement to the roll 3, this movement being independent of, and additional to, that imparted to it by the weighted band 5. After such a movement, the roll will again be moved in the opposite direction by the spring I3. If the first of these movements is accurately timed to take place simultaneously with the knocking over of the stitches of the looper course, it will ensure the complete casting of the stitches, and therefore the production of a clean looper course.

For the purpose of effecting such a timing of this additional takeup movement, I have provided a mechanism to place this movement under the control of the pattern mechanism of the machine. The customary pattern mechanism includes a pattern chain 24 carrying a series of lugs or buttons, one of which is shown at 25, which actuate parts associated with the chain. One of the mechanisms so actuated is that for producing the loose course. It comprises a bell crank lever 26, the horizontal arm of which is arranged to be engaged by one of the buttons 25. When so engaged it operates through the arm 21 to slide the loose course rod 28 toward the right, Fig. 1, and thus to bring into operation the instrumentalities for makingthe loose course. As soon as the button 25 has passed out from under the arm of the lever 26, the rod 28 is returned to its initial or normal position by means of a coiled spring 30' which encircles the left-hand end portion of the rod. This same mechanism preferably is utilized to control the timing of the auxiliary takeup mechanism.

As best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, the roll 20 is mounted to rotate freely on a stub shaft 3| secured to and carried by the depending arm H. In addition to rotating, the roll 20 can also slide axially on the shaft 3|. Its axial position on the shaft is controlled by an arm 32 secured rigidly to the end portion of the looper course rod 28, previously referred to, the inner end of this rod having a hook-shaped portion 33 which rides in a groove in the hub portion of the roll 20.

With this arrangement it will be clear that when the button 25 on the pattern chain operates through the connections above described to shift the rod 28 toward the right, the connection of thisrod with the roll 2|] will also shift the roll toward the right from the position in which it appears in Fig. 4 into another position directly in the vertical plane of the cam 2|. This cam, therefore, will engage the roll, as above described, and operate through the lever 8 to give the takeup roll 3 a. quick momentary additional takeup movement or kick. Such a movement is timed to occur simultaneously with the knocking over of the stitches, and because of the increased tension which it applies to the fabric, it ensures the definite casting or knocking over of the stitches of the looper course. Usually it is desirable not onlyrto have such an additional takeup movement or kick imparted to the goods during the making of the looper course, but also during the casting of the stitches for the next succeeding course and sometimes for two such succeeding courses. This can be accomplished by placing an additional button in the next link of the pattern chain 24, or if such a movement is to be produced in the next two courses, then three successive links in the chain would have buttons placed in them, as will readily be understood by those skilled in this art.

The button 25 is held under the lever 26 in one knitting course only so that the lever 28 is returned to its normal position and the roll 20 is moved out of cooperative relationship to the cam 2| before the next course is knit unless a second button on the pattern chain follows the first one. In other words, the mechanism is so 1 organized that the auxiliary or supplemental takeup mechanism is normally maintained in an idle condition and it is brought into operation only at times predetermined by the location of the buttons on the pattern chain.

Accurate timing of the supplemental takeup movement is facilitated by the adjustability of the cam 2| on the side of the cam 22 to which it is fastened by means of the bolt and slot arrangement 34. Accurate meshing of the teeth on the lever |2 with those on the gear 1 is facilitated by mounting the tip I2 of the lever B adjustably in the main arm of this lever through a screw and slot connection 35.

The fabric F illustrated in the drawings is a 2 part of the leg of the stocking, and looper courses L, Fig. 2, are made in the tabs at the end of this section of the fabric. Such a leg customarily is transferred later to another machine which knits the foot on to it, and essentially the same 3 mechanism may be used in the latter machine to ensure the knitting of a clean looper course.

It has been definitely determined in actual practice that this invention effectually overcomes the difliculties above described in connection with the knitting of the loose course. In addition, the mechanism provided by the invention is of such a nature that it can be manufactured economically and can be quickly installed on knitting machines now in use in hosiery mills.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the invention is susceptible of embodiment in other forms without departing 4 from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In a knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a fabric and making a looper course in it, and. means for maintaining a tension on the fabric during said knitting operation, of mechanism for automatically increasing the tension on the fabric temporarily substantially simultaneously with the knitting of the looper course.

2. In a knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a fabric and making a looper course in it, and means for maintaining a tension on the fabric during said knitting operation, of mechanism for automatically producing an additional takeup movement on the fabric substantially simultaneously with the knitting of the looper course, and subsequently restoring the normal tension again on the fabric.

3. In a knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a fabric and making a looper course in it, of mechanism under control of the pattern mechanism of the machine for giving the fabric a quick takeup movement of increased intensity substantially simultaneously with the knitting of the looper course.

4. In a full-fashioned hosiery knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a stocking fabric and making a looper course in it, including a takeup mechanism for maintaining a tension on the fabric during the knitting operation, of a normally idle supplemental takeup mechanism, and connections for causing the pattern mechanism of the machine to bring said supplemental mechanism into operation temporarily during the knitting of the looper course.

5. In a knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a fabric, a takeup roll for winding up the fabric and mechanism for giving said roll its normal takeup movement, of a driven cam, a lever arranged to be operated by said cam, connections for transmitting the motion of said lever to said roll to give it a momentary increased takeup movement, means for normallypreventing the operation of said takeup roll by said cam, and means under the control of the pattern mechanism of the machine for causing said cam to operate saidtakeup at the desired point in the knitting of the fabric. I

6. In a knitting machine, the combination with ,instrumentalities' for automatically ,knittingi a for normally holding said lever out of engagement with said gear, a cam for operating said lever, means for normally preventing the operation of said lever by said cam, and means arranged to be brought into operation by the pat- V tern mechanism of the machine for causing said cam to operate said lever and thereby to give said roll an additional momentary takeup movement.

'7. In a knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a fabric, a takeup roll for winding up the fabric 5 and mechanism for giving said roll its normal takeup movement, of additional mechanism for giving said roll a momentary takeup movement of increased intensity, and means under the control of the pattern mechanism of the machine for bringing said additional mechanism into operation temporarily at the desired point in the knitting of the fabric.

8. In a knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a fabric and making a looper course in it, a takeup roll for winding up the fabric and mechanism for giving said roll its normal takeup movement, of additional power driven mechanism for giving said roll a supplemental takeup movement of increased intensity, means for normally holding said additional mechanism in an idle condition, and means under the control of the pattern mechanism of the machine for bringing said additional mechanism into operation during the knitting of the looper course.

9. In a knitting machine, the combination with instrumentalities for automatically knitting a fabric, a takeup roll for winding up the fabric and mechanism for giving said roll its normal takeup movement, of a driven cam, connections arranged to be operated by said cam for giving said roll an increased takeup movement, means for normally preventing the operation of said takeup roll by said cam, and means under the control of the pattern mechanism of the machine for causing said cam to operate said takeup at the desired point in the knitting of the fabric.

. PAUL G. S'I'ROUD.

CERTIFICATE CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,044,741. June 16, 1956.

PAUL G. STROUD.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5, second column, line 53, claim 9, for "an" read a momentary; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 25th day of August, A. D. 1956.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents 

